Riley Leonard's 2024 season was something of a comeback tour from start to finish. He was a dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate in his time at Duke, later faltering due to injury and falling off the radar because of the way those issues affected his play.

Neither QB was ranked in the top 600 nationally. Leonard signed with Duke, Howard with Kansas State. Here's the backstory.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard transferred to the Fighting Irish via Duke this offseason, and Ohio State quarterback Will Howard came to the Buckeyes from Kansas State. Without Leonard and Howard,

Now, he’s Senior Bowl-bound with the chance to be one of the most intriguing quarterback prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft. With one last college football game to play, he has completed 66.4% of his passing attempts for 2,606 yards with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

The one common denominator between the Irish teams that lost to Ohio State in the past two seasons was quarterback play. It wasn't Leonard then. but it's Leonard now.

Riley Leonard and Will Howard, the soon-to-be starting quarterbacks at Notre Dame and Ohio State, attended the famed Manning Passing Academy at Nicholls State over the summer. They were roommates, getting ready for the pressure cooker of big-time college football at two of the biggest brands in the sport.

Riley Leonard opened the national championship game with a do-it-all drive that made it appear the Notre Dame quarterback could win the title by himself

Riley Leonard's lone season as Notre Dame's quarterback will undoubtedly leave a lasting impression. Despite falling just short of delivering the Fighting Irish their first national title in nearly 40 years,

Riley Leonard had a message after Notre Dame jumped out to an early lead over Ohio State in the national championship game.